Sound-receiving device.



S. M. DAVISON.

SOUND RECEIVING DEVICE. APPLICATION FILED mm: 5, 1909. RENEWED MAY 25,1910.

1,002,903, Patented Sept. 12, 1911.

.30 from thew sn'mnr .M. nnvrsoir, or cnmnmen,

SOUND-RECEIVING DEVICE- 4 Specification of Letters Eatent.

1 :SACHUSET'IS.

' Patented Sept. 12,1911.

Appli ati n filed J ne 5 1909, Serial H- ,786. .lienewe may 25, .9151-Serial 9.- 8399.

To all whom. it may concern:

Be it known that I, SIDNEY M. Dawson, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, and a resident of Cambridge, in the county 5 of Middlesex andState of Massachusetts,

have invented certain new and useful l mprovements Sound-ReceivingDevices, of which the followingis a specification. h

This invention relates to the transmission of'signals under water and ithas for its principal object the provision of a means 1 for intensifyingthe sounds produced and directing the sound vibrations produced by saidsignal-producing device. through the skin or hull of the vessel so thatthey may be heard at great distances from said signal producing device.Another very important feature of the nvention is th provision of ameans for 2 intensifying the sounds v received by the sound receiver byinsulating said sound receiver irom allthe ships noises and other soundibrations s'o that only such sound vibrations as are received from thesignal- ZQ- roducing device a e transmitted to the .ftelephone receiver.1he invention consists primarily in seto the skin of" a vessel anmclosure in which is positioneda shell or casing free als of saidinclosure, these forming a'chamber between the outer walls of the casingand the inner walls of the inclosure from which the air may be withdrawnto form a vacuum which absolutely prevents any sound vibrations pass' totheinteriorof the inner chamber in vfiiich the signalreducing member orthe soundreceiving evice is suspended.

The invention further consists in certain novel features of constructionand arrangeht strike the walls of the inclosure 14 -ment of parts whichlwill be readily understood byreference to the description of thedrawings and to the claims hereinafter given. 1

Of. the drawings: Figure 1' represents a horizofital section ofaportion'of the bow of a vessel showing on either side thereofreceptacles secured to the skin of the vessel in which thesound-producing device is 1 car d; Fig- 2 pre en s a s milar se i ncontaining the soundsreceiving device.

cured a ca of another vessel the receptaFcles 1 3 represents a verticalsection, the cutting plane being on line 3-3 on Fi 1. F 4

representsa vertical section b a modi ed as form of the sound-receivingdevice and the receptacle in which it is contained, and Fig.5'represents a sectional detail considerably enlarged of a portion ofthe inclosure showing the metal. reinforcing embedded in the material,

Similar characters designate like parts throughout the several figuresof the drawi g the drawings, 10 represents the bow of a' boat to theskin or wall of which it se 11 which may be open to the water in whichthe vessel floats, as indicated at 12, Fig. 1, or closed by the skin ofthevessel, as indicated at 13, Fig. 1. When the casing 11 is closed, asshown in 1 at 13, its interior may be filled with air, water, or anyother medium adapted to transmit sound vibrations although the, use of aliquidis preferable.

.' urrounding the casing ll'butseparated therefrom is an inclosure 14which likewise is secured to the skin or'wall of the vessel 10 in any,desired manner. This inclosure ismade up of ure gum rubber or somesimilar non-con uctor of sound vibrations and has embedded therein metalreinforcing members 15 which stifi'ens the sameand causes the inclosureto retainits sha e. One

wall of the member 14 is provide with a as valve lfithrough which theair in the chaniber 17 between the casing 11 and inclosure 14.- may bewithdrawn to produce a vacuum h ein,

It is obvious that any sh ps noises whlch w' be deadened by the'non-conductiveness of the material of which this inclosure is madeand-that any sounds which may by chance pass throu h the walls of thein--. closure 14 will he a solutely prevented from passing through thevacuum chamber 17 to the casing 11, while at the same time the soundvibrations caused by the of the e l 8 the n will be p e n f F when asound is produced by the bell 18 the,

passing into the interior of the vessel and thus annoying thepassengers.-

Within the casing 11 is suspended the bell 18 or some othersound-producing member which is operated electrically in any Wellknownmanner through the wires 19, or said bell may be operated mechanicallyor otherwise if desired. It is obvious therefore that vibrationstherefrom will pass through the medium contained within the casing 11whether it be air or water or some other gas or fluid, and these soundvibrations thus produced will be directly transmitted to the water inwhich the vessel floats, through the opening 12 in one case, or throughthe skin of the vessel, closing the outer end of the casing 11, asindicated at 13. The sound vibrations thus produced by either of thevessels or other audible signals or producers of sound vibrations willbe transmitted in .ergy, such as the battery 28.

the direction of the arrows aand b on Fig. 1.

In Fig. 2, 20 represents the bow of another vessel to the skin of whichis secured by any well-known means an inclosure 21 similar to that ofthe inclosure 14 and within this inclosure 21 is a shell or casing 22'also secured to the skin of the vessel but separated from the interiorwalls of. the inclosure 21, thereby leaving a chamber 23 between thecasing and inclosure from which the air may be withdrawn through thevalve 24, thus leaving a vacuum within said chamber 23 and insulatingthereby the casing 22 from all sound vibrations which phone 25 may besuspended in the casing 22 as indicated in 'Fig. 4; supported inposition by means of the perforated ring 29 of rubber or othernon-conductor of sound, as shown at the right of Fig. 2; or saidmicrophone may be secured directly to the skin of thevessel asindicated-at 30 at the left of Fig. 2, all without affecting theprinciples of the present invention. In like manner the casing 22 maycommunicate directly with the water in which the vessel floats, as shownat the right of F i 2 of the drawings, or be separated there om by theskin of thev vessel, as shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings, in which lattercase the casing will be 'filled with water in which the microphone issubmerged.

The micro-- phone should be inclosed in a metal. casing 31 to preventthe microphone from being afiected by dampness when submerged in thewater or from being affected by the air pressure when said microphone issecured directly to the skin of the vessel, as indicated at the left ofFig. 2 of the drawings. It is quite obvious that by such a constructionas is herein shown the transmission of the sound vibrations from theinterior of the vessel to the chamber in which the sound-producingmember is locatedcor to the chamber in which the sound-receiving memberis positioned is wholly prevented. By thus inclosing the sound-producingdevices the distance that sound may be sent is greatly increased and byinclosing the sound-receiving devices the distance that the soundmay beclearly heard is greatly increased, owin to the absence of all otherinterfering noises which are wholly excluded by the present system.

While it has been found to be of great advantage to make the casing andinclosure of pure commercial gum rubber or some other non-conductor ofsound capable of holding water and reinforced by wire metal that isneither in contact with the liquid in the casing nor with the skin ofthe vessel, it is quite obvious that some other form of casing could beused and'made of other material provided the casing or shell was securedto the skin of the vessel so that it would contain water but beinsulated from said skin or hull of the vessel.

It is believed that the operation, and many advantages of the inventionwill be fully apparent from the foregoing.

Having thus described my invention, 1'

claim;

\ 1. In an apparatus for signaling under water, the combination of aninclosure secured'to the skin of a vessel and from which the air isadapted to be. withdrawn; an inclosed casing within said inclosure andfree from the walls thereof, and a microphone in said casing. L 1 V 2.In anapparatus for signaling under water, the combination 05 aninclosure seair is adapted to be withdrawn; a casing contained withinsaid. inclosure and free from its walls adapted to contain a fluid;

and a sound-receiving device within said casing submerged in said fluid.

3. In an apparatus for signaling under cured tothe skin of a vessel fromwhich the water, the combination of an inclosure sefluid contained insaid casing.

4.?[n an apparatus forsignaling under Water, the combination of aninclosure se Signed by me at 4 Post Oflice Sq., Boston,

cured to the skin of a vessel and composed Mesa, this 21st day of April,1909.

of a non-conductor of sound vibrations reinforced by metal membersembedded there- SIDNEY M. DAVISON. in; a fluid-containing casingcontained Within said inclosure free from its walls;- Witnesses:

and a sound-receiving device suspended in ,WALTER E. LQMBARD,

the fluid contained in said casing. 1 1 NATHAN C. LOMBARD.

